These Boots
by Nominatal
Summary: Sometimes singing's more than singing and sometimes it's just a nice way to wake up.


**_Disclaimer_**: _There's a reason it's called fanfiction. I own nothing but the concept that I've written out and even that's fluid since I'm not the only one who has had this kind of idea. But this is my little bit so HA! ALL MINE!_

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He knows he's dreaming because his Momma's standing in the kitchen of a house he never grew up in, holding a pint sized version of himself and singing along to good ol' Johnny Cash while she stirs a pot of homemade chicken soup. The reason he knows it's a dream and not a long suppressed memory is because his Momma just turned around and crooned '_But it ain't me babe. No, no, no, it ain't me babe..._' with the biggest Doris Day smile painting an otherwise featureless face.

It should have disturbed him that she didn't have a face other than the mouth but he knew she was his Momma so John didn't feel the need to categorize this odd little vision as a nightmare. It was weird, made his chest hurt just a little, but it wasn't really a nightmare. He didn't have a lot of memories of the woman that brought him into this world so having her here, in his dream, singing to him was kind of nice.

He woke up and remembers she was asking him something when she turned back to the soup but he doesn't know what because whatever she said was in a language he didn't know. Considering he'd been getting a crash course in about a half dozen languages since stepping onto Atlantis, it surprised him that he didn't have a clue what it was. Stranger still was the insistent niggle at the back of his fuzzy mind that whatever it was, was familiar.

John groped at his nightstand and grabbed his comm then promptly forgot about his dream as he dragged himself out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower. Just a quick affair that wasn't supposed to last more than a couple minutes, enough to hit the important parts, but lasted a little over five minutes. He'd gotten to singing Live With Me, complete with some wet and wild air guitar action. He felt silly as hell when he stepped out and started to towel himself off but all in all it put him in a pretty good mood.

It wasn't until he was fastening the last clasps of his holster against his thigh and sliding on his ear piece and heard the broken chorus to a song that he hadn't heard since 1987 that John starts to think that whatever his Momma had been asking him, before he woke was, in Czech. Would kind of make sense given the guy currently butchering Touch of Gray...which wasn't exactly getting slaughtered; some lyrics didn't seem to translate so well.

He lifted a hand to the earpiece and tapped, "Hey Doctor Z, you're timing's off."

Now he expected to hear a surprised squeak and some colorful language but instead the engineer kept right on singing just a second or two off tempo to the song John could clearly hear in his memory. However he did get a voice answering him, just not Zelenka's.

"_Good Morning John._" Elizabeth's voice filtered over a very enthusiastic chorus.

"Mornin'. I'm taking it he can't hear a word anyone's been saying to him, right?"

"_More or less, no._" There was a ripple of soft chuckles from somewhere behind her which Weir joined in. "_He's been serenading the evening crew for three hours now._"

John looked towards the elegant slope of ceiling as he exited his room, turning towards the nearest transporter. "And nobodies' thought to, y'know, tell the guy?" Not that he blamed them or anything. The little guy might not look it but he had a nice voice, it was just a little weird when Radek slipped into his native language mid-sentence.

"_Why?_" It was Bates this time, chuckling, warm and relaxed, like John had never heard him before. "_It's kinda entertainin', sir._"

Well yeah, it was entertaining but Sheppard doubted that the Czech would appreciate an audience sharing in something that was obviously private. If the guy stood in the middle of the cafeteria and belted out a song or two or coxed his fellow scientists into a sing-along then maybe John wouldn't have felt like he was intruding, but as it was Radek didn't. Or at least Rodney never made fun of Zelenka for doing it so therefore the man didn't.

"Entertaining or not, did someone get his attention?" He already knew the answer so didn't wait for one. "Where is he?"

Elizabeth called over to Chuck and asked him for a life sign scan of Atlantis. After a moment her voice came over the comm, this time on a secure channel, "_There's a couple of bodies in the labs but we both know he's not there. I'd try the Puddle Jumper bay if I were you._"

"Figures. McKay and that little one...What's her name? Miko? Yeah, Miko...we're talking about running some diagnostics on two and four and something about modifications."

"_Then it's more than likely where he is._" He could hear the smile in her voice and smiled because of it. "_And John?_"

He entered the transporter and _thought_ 'Jumper Bay', pressing the display as almost as an afterthought. "Yeah?"

"Tell him I really enjoyed Rag Doll." She switched off the channel and he was left with the last lines of Touch of Gray.

The transporter opened and let him out two hallways over and for a moment John was confused. There was a transporter bay closer to the Jumpers but Atlantis spat him out so far away. He didn't question 'her' but did entertain thoughts that maybe the City liked listening to someone singing to her. It wouldn't surprise him one little bit, Atlantis was a classy lady after all.

By the time he got to the doorway and was stepping inside, Radek was starting in on a classic made famous again by a country artist that John might of had impure thoughts about a number of years ago. From the way Zelenka was belting out the lyrics, which John could hear in stereo now as he got closer to an opened hatch on Jumper four, he was convinced it was pure Nancy Sinatra. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked inside and watched, with mounting amusement, the smaller man swaying his hips in time with the tempo John knew was filtering through the telltale white ear buds nestled in the guy's ears.

Zelenka was dressed in a rumpled pair of khaki pants and stained blue shirt which meant, to John, that the guy was wearing the same thing he had on yesterday. He knows this because Kavanagh had tripped over a scanner and tossed his coffee cup halfway across the room. Most of it hit the floor but a good splash of the, thankfully cold, liquid hit Radek full in the chest. John had witnessed it from the hall and had a good laugh over it. But it meant that the man wriggling around inside the back half of the jumper hadn't went to his room which also meant he didn't sleep. Not that anyone would be able to tell because, really, Radek was bouncing around, twisting his hips, hands flying over the keys of a laptop mounted on a stepladder at hip height, like he had a couple of gallons of coffee and was going strong. He noticed the man's ear piece, along with his jacket, was laying on one of the benches that lined the back area.

John shook his head, chuckling, and headed up the ramp, stopping just behind the dancing engineer. He stood there for a minute, waiting to see if the other man would notice he had company but apparently he was to engrossed in whatever was scrolling across the screen or maybe he was too invested in singing along with Nancy, but he didn't. i'If I give the guy a heart attack Rodney's going to kill me.'/i John shrugged and reached a hand out to tap Radek on the shoulder. '_Good thing I'm use to getting bitched at.'_

The smaller man froze for half a second before a hand flailed out, knocking the laptop off its perch and a loud '**_Svaty hovno!_**' lit the air between them as Zelenka spun around all wide-eyed and pale. The two men stared at each other for a moment, neither seeming to breath. Then John quirked one side of his mouth into a lazy smirk. Radek's color returned then shot straight to a lovely shade of red that John associated with evening wine. He laughed and Zelenka called him a few things that he only understood in sentiment.

"It is not nice, Colonel, to sneak up on working scientists." The Czech spat testily as he bent to retrieve the fallen laptop.

John laughed again and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm sure it's not but I was standing behind you for awhile. You just didn't notice me."

"Nesmysl! I would have noticed, I would think!" But it was apparentl by the contrite look that even the scientist didn't believe it anymore than he thought John would. "Does not matter." Radek drew in a breath as he straightened then arched a brow at Sheppard's presence. "Was there something you needed, Colonel?"

"What are you doing out here so late?"

The Czech's brows knitted in confusion, "Late? I have only been here little while."

John smiled and laced his hands together behind his back. "You checked the clock lately?" He asked innocently and rocked back on his heels. "It's 0518 if my watch's tellin' the truth." His smile only grew when Zelenka's eyes rounded and the man let out a tiny 'Oh'. "Thought I'd come by and thank you before sending you off to bed."

"Wha...Thank me for what?"

"My wake up call, of course." John gave the man a wink then set about bundling the guy up in the scientist's discarded jacket, stuffing his earpiece into one of the pockets, and hustling him out of the Jumper Bay. It wasn't until he'd all but shoved the man into the transporter that Radek asked him what the hell he was talking about, what wake up call?!

John took great pleasure in regaling the smaller man of the melody of songs Atlantis and anyone listening to the common channel had been privy to over the course of the evening and complimented him on his little dance. Radek was bright red and awfully quiet all the way back to his quarters where John kindly iasked/i Atlantis to override the good Doctor's entry code and open the door. Sheppard pushed the Czech inside then left him in the middle of the room before turning and heading for the door, already telling his brain to forget seeing a familiar pair of boots in the corner that he knew didn't belong to the scientist.

He turned back, just outside the door, and grinned. "Oh and Doctor Weir wanted me to tell you she loved your version of Rag Doll." He shot off a quick salute and called out before the door slid closed, "You'll have to sing it to me one day."

John laughed all the way to McKay's room with the sound of Doctor Z's voice calling him every name in the book, following him down the hall.

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**Translations**

Svaty hovno - Holy Shit

Nesmysl - Bullshit


End file.
